Nick
Judging honesty in a man without ever meeting him in person is difficult. From your answer I can only suppose you never did (neither did I).
All fighter pilots in the Med area overclaimed tremendously when the Fortresses and Liberators appeared, meaning that everybody was dishonest if your method is to be used. There was a whole lot of wishful thinking involved in these claims, no doubt about it!
Taking on a pack of four-engined bombers took a lot of courage and the number of claims can equally be interpreted as how many combats he was involved in.
I don't intend to bicker with you about Schroer's honesty or not. I am satisfied that Johannes finds him by his measument to have been just that. My answer to you was simply because I did not know if you knew Johannes way of thinking or not. I suggest we leave it at that.
Cheers
Stig